history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. >> according to the u.s. census, nearly one million americans suffer identify as cherokee. up next, historian and author gregory smithers discusses his book, "the cherokee diaspora: an indigenous history of migration, resettlement, and identity." an australian native who identifies as cherokee, argues that people from australia through scotland and the united states will self identify as cherokee due to forced immigration and imperialism. cherokeeistorical records, maps, storytelling, and pictures to explore why a variety of people identify with the cherokee nation. the virginia historical society posted this one hour event.

gregory: according to the u.s. census, almost one million americans suffer identify as cherokee. everyone travels the united states, someone is likely to lay claim to a cherokee ancestors somewhere in their family tree. in fact, as far as scotland, hawaii, even australia and chances are you'll meet someone who insists that they are descended from cherokee forebears. how can so many people on the scattered all over the world claim to be cherokee? historian gregory d smithers addresses this question in his new book "the cherokee diaspora: an indigenous history of migration, resettlement, and identity." he reveals for the first time the origins of the dispersion of the cherokee people. he takes the reader back to the 18 and 19 centuries to uncover the importance of migration and tradition,nds, and and culture and language in defining what it means to be

cherokee while living in diaspora. the story is a remarkable one. full of bravery, innovation, and resilience. gregory smithers is associate professor of history at virginia commonwealth university. his research and writing focuses on the histories of native americans and african-american people. since the 18th century. richly, he gave a most popular to park last year in november on the history of native americans in virginia. some of you may have been here for it. he is particularly interested in the rich history of the cherokee people, native american history in the southeast, and environmental history. the author of numerous books and articles, his most recent being the cherokee diaspora. an indigenous history of migration. resettlement, and identity. copies of which make a great christmas present and will be available for you to purchase

and for him to sign in the shop after the lecture please join me in giving a very warm welcome to gregory smithers. [applause] gregory: thank you. thank you for that lovely introduction. that was very nice. thank you all for coming this afternoon. over the years, i have spent more time here than i care to count. upstairs in the reading room looking at manuscript. i know this place well and it is always lovely to come back. now that i live here, it is really cheap to get to the dhs. thank you all, also, for coming and supporting us. this they very important institution in our city and so, i appreciate it as i'm sure the staff are of your support. this project of mine, which ended up in this book that you see on the screen there, did not

begin in georgia or north carolina. or in oklahoma, for that matter. it began in australia. in the national archives of australia which is located in australia. i'm from there originally and grew up there and was educated there and my family all still lives there. tooved away to california try and get a phd in history. along the way, i met my wife. australia one summer. i was doing research on a different project and i stumbled across an immigration file from the mid-1960's. 1965, actually. it was an immigration file to a woman named cherokee meeks. her and her family had migrated

or trying to migrate from oklahoma to australia. to queensland actually. it is a state very much like oklahoma and much of the west. what on earth were they doing there? what were they thinking in 1955 to want to try to relocate their family with two or three small children -- whether they trying to move to the other side of the world? what would possibly compel someone to take such a drastic step? i was fascinated by this file. wanting to know more about this family and at the same time, curious to know whether there had been other people of cherokee ancestry who had made similar decisions, not only to migrate to australia, but to other parts of the world, as well. so, that is how the story started. 2001 winter afternoon

in canberra, australia, cherokee meeks and her family did not acquire access to austria. they did not receive the permission from the government that they were seeking to become permanent members of australian society. remember in 1965, australia had a policy still in 1972, called the white astro your policy. as someone of cherokee ancestry, as someone of native american heritage, the commonwealth of australia deemed this and inappropriate family for admission despite the fact that they came with considerable savings and family assets. .onetheless, i was curious this was the beginning of what has turned out to be an almost

decade and a half long search to retrace the cherokee diaspora. it has taken me to scotland's. it has taken me two parts of england, london, manchester, back to australia and hawaii. all over north america. the cherokee people today live throughout the world. there are cherokee's who call toronto home. there are cherokee so call san francisco and los angeles home. there are cherokee's who call washington, d.c., austin, new york, home. the cherokee diaspora is in many ways a truly global diaspora. it is a product of american colonialism and it is also a product of cherokee innovation. but they cherokee determination to maintain a strong sense of their identity as cherokee people.

so, that initial discovery in australia in 1965 -- a 1965 document has been driving me for the last decade and a half. to know more about the people who constituted and made the cherokee diaspora. that is what the book is about. find thisnecessarily history of the cherokee diaspora the 19thoks from century and 20th century and today. one inrokee story is which they encounter europeans, they adapt and become quote unquote civilize. there ultimately forcibly relocated in the 1830's by the federal government. it is one of the more shameful episodes in american history. other than this forced

relocation in the early 19th century, the cherokee are not thought of, historically, to have any tradition of movements, migrations, and travel. this map that you see on the screen here, is indicative of how we have all been programs, culturally, to perceive the cherokee since 19 century. this is a map from 1828 textbook. primer prepared by an educator. you can see on the map that the are positioned in that iny, very authoritative oval the appalachian region. indicated based upon the lines that are drawn for the shawnee to the lower creek and for the uruguay to the north, the cherokee are thought to be

sedentary. to have no history of movement, adaptation, innovation. and this is something that is wrong. that is misleading. and it is indeed what i want you about today. want to talk to you about today. the history of pride the cherokee had taken within through the jasper over the 19th -- the diapora over the 19th and 20th centuries. it was this pride in cherokee identity that parents felt when they gave their daughter the name cherokee. one of the things that i was whening most keenly about i was researching is, why would they named their daughter cherokee? clearly there is some concern on

meek's parents. their daughter, forced by modernity and american assimilation policy the 20th century, to forget who she is. her ancestors, where she came from. she only needs to say her name, then, to recall, to be reminded of who she is. then, i story of extraordinary courage, community, and family pride that made the cherokee diaspora what it is today. cherokee meeks is just the entry point into correcting this type of one-dimensional history that we have been exposed to for many centuries now. what do we actually know about the cherokee people? iroquoiskee are and

speaking people, possibly descended from the migratory group of the northern iroquois indians. they settled in the vast and diverse region that is today the space of virginia and west virginia. north and south carolina, georgia, alabama, tennessee, and kentucky included. cherokee towns, one of which you see produced on the screen. this is an important over hilltown that is now underwater. this town would have been located in what is today tennessee. the cherokee town names often reflected the iroquois ancestry of the cherokee people. towns such as seneca highlighted the linguistic connection of

the cherokee people.they offered clues as to where the cherokee came from. an archaeologist and language over the past -- and linguists over the past generation are in agreement that the evidence we have suggests that the cherokee are descended from migrants, iroquois migrants that several in the appalachian region about 4000 years ago. they were outsiders then to the southeast. toy were sometimes referred by other native peoples in the southeast as kay jewelers. -- cave dwellers. the cherokee, the people that come to be known as the cherokee, they see themselves as keepers of the sacred fire. 1000 in our common era,

come to refer to themselves as the principal people. an identifiable, strong and sophisticated political cultural and social system that is connected with other native communities and societies throughout the southeast. ultimately connected after the arrival of europeans in the 16th century to a transatlantic world of trade and cultural exchange. cherokee are important to the story of the cherokee diaspora. towns such as the one you see on the screen provide something of an access route. at least from the english perspective, to the rich and fertile lands of the ohio and illinois valleys. the tennessee river, which was once referred to as the cherokee river, was dominated by

cherokees who lived in towns like this. superhighway's of the early modern period. the cherokee people controlled and dominated those rivers. way, isn, by the probably the most important town in cherokee society in the 18th century. it's now underwater. it sits at the bottom. it remains at the bottom of the dam. which was completed after a long legal battle that was fought by the cherokee people with environmental allies for much of the 1960's and 1970's. colonialism still impacts cherokee people, at the does for all native american people. but what this image indicates is that cherokee people lived in

tightly knit communities. town life structured one's life and identity. it provided the sense of rhythm to an individual's life. but so too did one's clan identity. the cherokee people belong historically to one of 7 matrilineal clans. women have an enormous amount of political power in traditional cherokee society. they are responsible for food production and distribution. women are responsible for determining who can and cannot become a member of a clan. women, for example, often have the last word on determining who of the captives -- captives of debts -- they determine

when and how those individuals will become members of a particular clan. women have so much political power in cherokee society that one french observer in the 1790's referred to the cherokee as living under a petticoat government. so the cherokee, by the time europeans arrived in the 16th century, and certainly the english in the following century, have a very sophisticated society, both culturally and politically. women are at the core of that society. historians have charted this history fairly consistently for many generations now. the arc of cherokee history typically follows this narrative of traditional town and clan

and thee role of women matrilineal nature of cherokee society. that history often culminates, and indeed ends, with removal. an era that i mentioned moments ago is perhaps one of the most tragic in american history. this narrative isn't wrong. not incorrect to inculcate generations of schoolchildren in college students with this narrative. cherokee people did encounter traders, settlers, colonial officials, missionaries, and ultimately enslaved african and african-american people. all of this is part of the reshaping of cherokee life over the 17th, 18th, and into the 19th century. it's not wrong, but it's

incomplete. it's an incomplete picture of who the cherokee people are and what they became over the course of the 18th and 19th century, and into the present day, . to get a sense of who the , what i didple are during my research was to revisit the oral traditions, the oral narratives that gave the meaning and purpose to life for cherokee communities. earth being once divided of cherokee ancestors being forced to cross a great bridge that later sank to the bottom of the ocean. stories of lost cherokee. cherokee warriors and hunters who, in what europeans call the early modern period, migrated beyond the trends mississippi --

-mississippi all the way to the mountain range we know as the rocky mountains. stories are not often recalled in history's of the cherokee people -- in the histories of the cherokee people. the most famous story of all in cherokee culture, the story of the corn mother, and the lucky hunter. attention draws our to the importance of human movement in cherokee culture. be short, itto tells the story of how he cherokee acquire their source of food, sense of identity. but it does more than that. it places travel and migration and relocation at the center of cherokee identity.

and there are other forms of travel, too in the 1730's and the 1760's. cherokee were among visitors to london. diplomats, representatives of a people. representing the interests of cherokee people, asserting their sovereignty and their independence from the english crown. relocation, settlement -- these are all part of cherokee history and culture. they become much more by systematic part of cherokee history and the cherokee story after the 1750's. this is particularly true in the latter half of the century. century.8th dominated by the industrial

revolution. from a cherokee respect, dominated --perspective, dominated by the destruction of their communities, their towns and crops at the hands of aggressive settlers, particularly expansionist virginian settlers. initially in the half-century after the 18th century, cherokee people begin to relocate and real established towns, culture, families in other parts of cherokee country in the southeast. reestablishing their lives in towns, as they once commonly had done, they begin to establish community life around farmstead, believing that those farmsteads would offer them a source of both sustenance and a

geographical form of protection from these aggressive white people. some cherokee's, it should be wanted to forcibly resist the expansion of anglo-american settler colonialism during the late 18th and 19th century. became theee vanguard of the cherokee diaspora during this p eriod. then migrated to the trans -mississippi west, not in search of buffalo or to improve their masculinity. they migrated with an entire community. with women and children, with people of all demographic. they were relocating their life as they knew it in the southeast.

they were trying to keep a sense of what is meant to be cherokee alive away, at a safe distance from these aggressive americans. some of the people who lead the vanguard of the cherokee figures likeuded the one that you see on the screen. he's known to the english as john jolly, a prominent over hill chief in modern day tennessee. john jolly is most famous for being the adoptive father sam houston. sam houston wasn't adopted cherokee. -- was an adopted cherokee. he spent much of his youth learning about the history and culture of the cherokee people. it was this man whom she traveled with into arkansas territory in the early 19th century.

1817, actually. jolly and his community, which included sam houston, relocated and attempted reestablish a traditional sense of cherokee life in trans-mississippi west. it's not surprising that we see the waves of migration during this period of the late 18th and 19th century. historians have long known about a series of removal crises that struck at the heart of cherokee communities. firstly in 1906, than in 1809, than in 1817, which prompted jolly and his community to leave and head for arkansas. then in 1828, and 1829, and of course all through the 1830's, ounted a famous legal opposition to removal.

certainly, byre the early 19th century, becoming an increasingly disaporic people. people.oric they need is some kind of intellectual framework to articulate who they were in this new world, in this new colonial world. one of the individuals, the great minds of the 19th century cherokee community was the main on the screen there. oowatie is a fascinating character. limit give you a brief summary of who buck oowaite was. he was born and took the name of the philanthropist and revolutionary era hero, elias not -- elias boudinot.

his education was both at the hands of his cherokee elders and at the feet of missionaries. he attended the famous missionary school in connecticut, where he shared the classroom students who were i,eek, malay, mallory -- maor waiian,and, choctaw -- ha and fellow cherokee's. this education proves pivotal in buck oowaite's life. outlines a, he framework for about eight -- for diasporicrokee identity. but he also laid out an explicit critique of anti-indian races. behold an indian,

my kindred art -- are indian. my kin sleeping in the wilderness grave, they too are indian. rubber means and the will --broader means and nobler influences have fallen upon me. this is a statement about the adaptive nature of cherokee people and their culture. tradition is not something that stays the same generation after generation. it's something that is adapted and is alive. it adapts to the needs of the people who give it meaning. ite iss what buck oowa trying to do, letting white people know that we are still cherokee irrespective of the so-called civilized improvements that you white people pe

rceive. boudinot, the cherokee people possess the skills and intellectual agility and a deep sense of commitment to maintaining their identity irrespective of where settler colonialism pushes them to migrate. boudinot cousin added a note about the past and present present, andt, future nature of the cherokee diaspora. when he wrote of the mingling of two migratory people, europeans and cherokees, cherokee and white blood, he insisted, will inevitably intermingle and wind fairourse in begiing the

complexion. that has all sorts of applications for those who contend they have cherokee ancestors. theytantly to note is that practiced what they preached. at least in respect to the intermingling of white a cherokee blood. ridge married a white woman. married a young woman named. gold, so infuriated her family that one of her cousins wrote a terrible letter to her during their courtship, telling her "oh dear. , whose -- "oh dear. " oh dear harriet, whose gold should soon be dimmed."

the feeling against her was so intense. one tennis court about their marriage was that it was simply -- one famous quote about their marriage is that it was simply base lust, and all that it would produce are black young ones. interesting racial commentary. outlinet tried to an intellectual foundation for life and diaspora. this man provides the written language to articulate what it means to be cherokee. ofuoyah is a great hero cherokee history. he was born in the early 1770's and was raised by his mother. man -- hisas a right

father was a white man, a traitor -- a trader. he left shortly sequoyah's birth. his mother raised him and his him with hised formal education. chief of the town famous forta -- taking in refugees in the 18th and 19th centuries. sequoyah grew up in this environment of great movements and migration, people coming and going. this is not uncommon for people in the over hilltown. great humming highway commerce -- highway of commerce. according to an early night

sequoyah saw, nothing special in the way of european writing. in factt dismissed -- dismissed the letters that europeans put on the printed page. that was nothing special in speaking and communicating without speaking. determined to demonstrate to his fellow cherokee's that they too could develop their own system of writing without talking. that is what he set out to do with his syllabary. sequoyah went so far as to declare that he was of the opinion that he could find a way by which the cherokee could

communicate their ideas just as well as the white people could. this was a source of ride for the -- of pride for the cherokee people to do this. indeed, one of the most important things about studying the diaspora is the manner in which they maintain their thoughts and put them in writing. in english, but also in the syllabary. even in mind that the cherokee people or the first -- are the first native people to have a newspaper in the early 1800s. the cherokee phoenix i newspaper. that was itself part of an emerging cherokee diaspora. there were agents who would try and sell that newspaper all over the u.s. agentseed, there were that would travel across the atlantic and into london to distribute that newspaper.

many years ago i was in the british library. i asked the archivist how they set ofross a complete the cherokee phoenix newspaper. it seems to be the case that there were agents selling the cherokee phoenix to londoners. quite extraordinary the reach with with cherokee ideas and politics and culture was circulated throughout the atlantic world, and ultimately threaten the pacific. -- ultimately throughout the pacific as well. the reason this form of communication in newspaper form -- the cherokee people wrote

detailed letters about the most monday things about everyday life -- the most monday 00 a lesson they had received on astronomy. what they were going to have for dinner. this is committed to the written page, but also the syllabary. what a wonderful gift sequoyah gave to the cherokee people and the world. this is important in the context andhe 19th century, certainly after the removal of the cherokee people from their homeland in the southeast. twookee people developed homelands. they re-create a homeland in indian territory. they also retain, both in reality and then their imagination, a traditional

homeland in the southeast. that is a tradition that the eastern band of cherokee continue to the day. 19the context of the century, there are many development that swirled around north america. most notably the gold rush in california, which sees a number of cherokee people migrate along the california road across the rockies. and two, the gold fields of california, where they hope to strike it rich. so many stories i can tell about cherokees that went to california, some who stayed, some who came back and named towns. book read about them, though. [laughter] many of them did not strike it

rich in california. one of the phenomenons in the 1850's the minors -- steam liners in san francisco harbor that advertise their services to gold seekers down on their luck, as many cherokee were. offering their services to transport people to australia. australia is having a simultaneous gold rush in the 1850's. thatve evidence african-americans and cherokee people hopped on those steamers, which they were assured were well-equipped with medical supplies and physicians that would treat them with any melody ady theyld -- and mal could come down with. again, many did not strike it rich in australia. in fact, many faced out right

persecution, racism, and hopped back on the steamers to san francisco. the importance of all this is in the context dispersing guys people.- disaporic their willingness to foster peoplehat connect over vast differences. speak in tooto great of detail about the trail of tears, referred mythically as the great immigration. i talk in length in the book about where this phrase the trail of tears comes from.

still open to dispute among historians. what you see on the screen is a map from the national park service. it is true the cherokee put up a wonderful and complex and coordinated legal battle to maintain their home. they had wonderful legal victories. people not only walked the trail .f tears that is absolutely true. but it's also true that this was a technological method o eradicatto -- method to

eradicate a people from the southeast. wagons,rains, ox-drawn the military, federal bureaucracy all combined to move upwards of 17,000 cherokee people from their homeland. in total, between 70,000 and 18,000 -- we can learn a lot from this inglorious moment in american havery, given we would candidates that want to institute something like this today. no names need to be mentioned. [laughter] this looms large in the story of the cherokee diaspora. it looms large in the life of one person that i want to mention briefly.

hurting his -- her name is mary jane long knife. save the details when you read it over christmas break. maryght -- suffice to say and her sister ultimately migrate hawaii in oahu. mary died in 1906, but not before she didgot her name on te roll, which collective names of the cherokee people in 1906. other cherokee, famous and not so famous who become part of the diaspora. sa owen, marries a railroad engineer, has 2 sons

that go one to become famous politicians in washington dc. incissa and her husband live lynchburg, virginia. but she spends time in washington dc and the cherokee nation. this is a fabulously mobile cherokee diaspora by the middle and late 19th century. there are problems. it's very difficult when you have so much moment to ascertain who is and is not legitimately cherokee. there were many white people who tried to make a claim to be cherokee during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. including the descendents of friedman -- freedman, african-americans who struggle with poverty, with racism from both whites and native american

communities. many of them who file positions citizenshipion for in the cherokee nation, their files and of in these filing cabinet drawers in the cherokee citizenship commission. discussing in particular how the legal and bureaucratic processes of underscoring once cherokee identity -- one's cherokee identity becomes tied up with a complex history of overlapping diasporas. the afro-cherokee and afr americanp diasporas. the civil war and its conclusion on leashes enormous -- unleashes enormous migration route the united states. again, needed people are caught up in that. by their own choosing and otherwise.

where are we today? there's almost 1 million who self-identify as cherokee. identifyeople themselves as cherokee. questionablehigh and dubiosus self-identifications, but it denotes the success of the cherokee cultivating their identity, their culture, and their society, their politics. 3 federallyday recognized cherokee nations. one in indian territory, the uni ted bands of cherokee in

oklahoma, and the band in north carolina. what i would say in conclusion is the reason so many people assert that they have "cherokee -- and in adapted would be happy to take questions about this. the reason people assert that identity is that cherokee people not only survived centuries of colonialism, migration, and resettlement, but maintained a deep sense of pride in their history and culture. irrespective of where their travels have taken them. thank you all for listening. [applause] gregory: on happy to take

questions if you have any. in the front here. wereve read that there cherokee families that state in places like tennessee, they owned property. were these men ever given the right to vote? gregory: one thing that happens in the decade after the removal is that the federal government does that if you stay -- says that if you stay in tennessee, north and south carolina, as many do, you become a citizen of your respective state. the census bureau defines those people as white. they are in effect,

de-racinated by the federal government in the process. does not to say those people don't lose sight of their jerky identity and -- cherokee identity and forbearers. it's clear to me that they don't. this is why you see people reappearing and asserting their cherokee identity during the late 19th and 20th century. isteesve a musty -- enl in the second world war from places like ohio and north carolina who asserted their cherokee identity. families keep this alive. that is part of the cherokee diaspora. while there is this effort on the part of the federal government over the 19th century, cherokee people do not fold. they do not assimilate to the white american bureaucracy.

an interesting story, by the way. wanted to keep their distinctive culture alive. withid they mix and mingle the greeks and the choctaw and others they encountered? gregory: good question. 2 things i want to emphasize. and thehe the cherokee crete were at war with each other over the course of the 18th century. the relationship between the over hill cherokee's and upper creeks was often volatile. it was not always on a friendly basis.

cherokeeid that, people had a long history of theing with outside of creek confederacy into other native american communities throughout the southeast. indeed, up into the ohio and illinois valleys also. after removal and relocation to indian territory, the cherokee people work very fast to and somesh government semblance of normal life. out of that foundation comes the rekindling and flourishing of cherokee dance and storytelling. but also other native peoples

clamoring to become citizens of the cherokee nation in a way that we do not see in the creek or choctaw nations during this period. something is particularly strong, a strong sense of pride that seems to draw other native peoples to the cherokee nation and the late 19th century. that is indicative of this longer trajectory i have been talking about. this deep and active engagement with their own traditions. of today --erokees do the cherokees of today have a great loathing for president andrew jackson? [laughter] gregory: yes. [laughter]

>> thank you. i just have trivia, but i must say this. i have no cherokee background, but i live in arkansas as a boy, 50 miles from oklahoma. is a mountain in the campgrounds near a town where clinton and his wife met. fascinated that this wonderful cherokee woman's h usband was an engineer and moved into my state of arkansas. i was born in oklahoma.

my grandfather retired as an .ngineer on a small town i can remember when i was 5, grandfathermy pointed up the hills from the farm in stillwell and said, there are indians that live up there. my cousin who died in tulsa, his's second wife was indian. one question that comes from this, can you trace the willingness of americans individually and as a group to gradually come to terms with pride of their background, whoever they were?

i say that in the context of realizing that indians might blackome colso-called blood. and those who pride themselve speak--ndian generally we say, i might have a little bit of someone else's blood. my question is the progress of accepting black and whites, is there something in the background justice thomas -- backgroujn just as thomas jeffersond had? gregory: that is an important area of arkansas where you do see a lot of interracial cherokee-white families.

the rediscovery of cherokee blood is that this is something that the post second world war has made possible. andfall of european fascism jim crow segregation in the u.s. opened up a cultural space for people to actually embrace publicly what had been kept private for a generation or more. always immediate in my dismissal of those that come to me and say that they have cherokee blood. the reason is that the cherokee people have this long history of migration and adopting outsiders, whether it's through traditional means or intermarriage. is not always sincerely beyond the realms of -- it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

as i say, the cultural space that has bent opened up -- has been opened up by the fall of fascism and racism -- not to say that we are free of that, certainly not -- but there has been this space opened up. we can reconnect with those over connections in our colonial history they're there. we have denied them for so lon g. in -- peopleafer feel safer to lay claim to them now. saying thated by the lady named cherokee tribe to immigrate to australia? gregory: that is right. >> due to either she or her husband have a profession? gregory: they were farmers.

>> that could be another reason australia did not want them. 1760's they were in desperate need of professionals. there could be two reasons they were rejected. gregory: that is right. in the dying days of white australia and the need for -- in the mid 20th's century australia, there is somewhat of a brain drain. the one thing i will say abotut that, this family responded to a very specific advertisement for immigrants to northern queensland. they asserted on their application they not only had savings, but farm equipment to bring with them. they went out of their way to

indicate that they were indeed trying to appeal to a very specific request queensland government. the queensland government. >> i am curious about the picture on your book, i take it of a cherokee. what is the significance of that? i understand there is a difference between wearing feathers down your back and in an upward position. gregory: this is an image that is rarely used. this character is from the 18th century, when the cherokee chiefs that went to england in the 1760's. by ais a portrait made french artist that was subsequently purchased by a scot, folder number of these types of images of native

american people. -- a scot, who sold a number of these types of images of native american people. the red feather would suggest that he is a war chief. the manner in which he has class thing that k -- in which he is clasping that knife would reinforce that observation. [laughter] but he is wearing regalia to show that he will be an emissary and can engage in dialogue. was referred to in the 18th century as diplomatic friendship. the chain of friendship, is the cherokee and other native americans referred to it. he's not willing, clearly, based upon his posture, the way in which he has clasping that knife, the feather, and the very firm way iwhich he has gazing at something in the distance -- he's not willing to roll over,

clearly. [laughter] i love this image. this is why i chose it for those very reasons. >> thank you. "virginia isthe theyovers" website, promote through the powhatan people and the cherokee indians of virginia. what you think then, that virginia is hesitant to recognize the tribes that are in virginia today? gregory: politics. [laughter] the cherokee people have a long history of virginia, having permanent settlements that date back to about 3000. thereafter also coming into southwestern virginia to hunt. living, in addition to

hunting in the lands of southwestern virginia, also traveling to engage in trade and diplomacy with other natives. ultimately with european colonizers. virginia- that, lawmakers do not understand. that they do not want to see that history, is a great injustice to the cherokee people, particularly those who call virginia home. it's also a reflection of the many generations of education -- miseducation, we should call it, on the history of native peoples in the commonwealth. that's something we need to work on. [applause] gregory: thank you.

>> featured this weekend on american history tv on c-span3. tonight at 8:00 eastern on lectures in history, arizona state university professor on the president's wartime role. including wars waged without formal congressional declaration. >> it is the president's job to educate. the president will say, i know you don't understand this. there is not any reason you should have understood this. it was in a place far, far away with people who seek -- who speak a different language. so i'm going to explain to you what american interests are while people in congress responded to that. i will let opinion makers respond to that. i'm going to educate you and you can make a decision. i will ask you to do this. i will explain why i think this

is a course action to pursue. >> sunday morning at 10:00, on road to the white house rewind, the 1996 campaign of tennessee governor lamar alexander. and his walk across new hampshire to greet voters. later at 4:00 p.m. eastern on reel america, 1963 interview with reverend martin luther king jr. on his nonviolent approach to civil rights, president kennedy's civil rights bill, and how mahatma gandhi influenced his work. dr. king: when i first studied the gandhian philosophy and methods of nonviolent resistance, i came to the conclusion that it was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in our struggle for freedom and human dignity. i would say this overall direct action movement, with its sit-ins, stand-ins, wait-ins, kneel-ins, mass marches and

pilgrimages, and all of the other elements of the struggle, have been a great deal after gandhi. >> for the complete we can schedule, go to c-span.org. -- weekend schedule, go to c-span.org. >> each week, american history tv's reel america brings you archival film that provides context for today's over the physicians. next, from july 5, 1963. reverend martin luther king jr. is interviewed by journalists from donna, india -- ghana, india, and south carolina. part of the show "press conference usa," which featured journalists questioning a well-known public future. dr. king is pressed to comment on civil rights, president kennedy's bill, and now he is influenced by mahatma gandhi. films were distributed

internationally, but by law cannot be shown in the west until 12 years after the original release. -- shown in the u.s. until 12 years after the original release. have. king, to what extent you moved along-- americanent is the negro part of the struggle for freedom? king: to answer the last part of the question first, i would say our movement here in the united states is in, a real sense, part of a worldwide struggle to break down the barriers of injustice and oppression. it is not an isolated or detached struggle, but it is a part of this worldwide struggle

for freedom and human dignity. on the first part of the question, i would say that our movement has been patterned after the gandhian movement in india a greeat deal. i have been influenced by mahatma gandhi a great deal. i think this is true of many people in the movement in the united states. some years ago, when it first studied -- when i first studied the gandhian philosophy and method of nonviolent resistance, i came to can the conclusion was the most potent weapon available to oppress people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity. i would say this overall direct action movement, with its kneel-ins,and-ins, its mass marches and pilgrimages, all of the other elements that entered the

struggle, have been patterned a great deal after gandhi. there are certainly some sociological differences in the unit states. we are a numerical minority here facing the opposition of many individuals who fall under the majority. whereas in india, it was the other way around. we are struggling for integration, where is in india there was a struggle for independence. there is a difference. in one instance you are seeking to gain freedom from a foreign invader. in the other instance, you are seeking to come to a new adjustment and the kind of integrated living with people in the same situation who are oppressing you. ,> do i understand you doctor

to extend brotherhood by federal force to those who don't agree? dr. king: you cannot have brotherhood by federal force. you cannot have true brotherhood by federal force. i do think, though, you can break down the legal, the external and the man-made barriers that make brotherhood impossible by federal force. in other words, i don't think you're going to have brotherhood as long as there is a system of racial segregation. i do feel that this system can be broken down by federal force. when you move to the realm of t rue brotherhood, true integration, which is genuine interpersonal living, mutual acceptance, then we move into another realm altogether.

i don't think this can be done by federal force. but i think that these barriers can be broken down, and he can bring us nearer to the goal. >> he said to him, you know, we have college age kids in alabama, but it's the kids in the elementary schools that are suffering. the african-american kids are getting poor education, horrible buildings. a sunday night on q&a, documentary film maker talks about her latest film. isut julius rosenwald and partnership with -- his partnership with booker t. washington to build schools in the south and bring elementary education to children in rural america. together these kid ho uses. the best thing booker t.

washington ever did was say no, just like we do at tuskegee, i want the communities to do it. it was pretty amazing. from that, it more into 5000 schools all over the announcer: sunday night at 8:00 eastern. next on lectures in history, arizona state university professor brooks simpson discusses the role of the president during wars, including those wage without a formal congressional declaration. he examines the ways american foreign-policy and the president took hours have evolved. it is about one hour and 15 minutes. brooks: we will talk about presidents and going to war. we have talked about the constitution already, the